Sandy is an Ancient Parish in the county of Bedfordshire.
Alternative names: Sandy with Girtford
Sandy is a populous village, part of which lies on the great North Road near Girtford Bridge over the Ivel. It never possessed a market, however, for the ancient east Bedfordshire market towns of Biggleswade and Potton are adjacent.
While there is no specific mention of epidemics, the register seems to chronicle the results of more than one visitation. In 1559 the 26 burials in January to April and 31 in December to March suggest plague, prevailing perhaps for over a year. Minor outbreaks may possibly lie behind the somewhat numerous burials in the summers of 1546 and 1648 (London suffered in 1547 to 48), the autumn or 1557, the spring of 1597, the winter of 1714 to 15 and the spring of 1777
Other places in the parish include: Stratford, Gritford, Beeston Green, and Beeston.
Parish church: St. Swithin
Parish registers begin:
- Parish registers: 1538
- Bishop’s Transcripts: 1602
Nonconformists include: Baptist, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Independent, Primitive Methodists and Wesleyan Methodist.
Parishes adjacent to Sandy
Historical Descriptions of Sandy
High Street Sandy 
CAMBRIDGE ROAD, SANDY 
Cambridge Road, Sandy 
SANDYE PLACE SANDY BEDFORDSHIRE 1905 
Sandy. Girtford Bridge 1908 
Market Place, Sandy 
Sandy. The Great War. Norfolk Regiment & Mascot Roy Kemp 1915.
Sandy
The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870
SANDY, a village, a township, and a parish, in Biggleswade district, Beds. The village stands on the river Ivel and on the Great Northern railway, at the intersection of the Bedford and Cambridge railway, and on the Roman road from St. Albans to Godmanchester, 3 miles N N W of Biggleswade; is supposed to occupy the site of the Roman station Salinæ; and has a post-office under St. Neots, and a r. station with telegraph. The township contains also the village of Gritford, and the hamlets of Beeston-Green and Stratford; and comprises 3,800 acres. Real property, £8,587. Pop. in 1851, 1,565; in 1861, 1,754. Houses, 380. The parish includes also 210 acres of Beeston hamlet, with a pop. of 364 in 1861, and 81 houses. The property is much subdivided. The Hasells, Cæsar’s Camp, and Swiss Cottage are chief residences. Market-gardening is largely carried on. Two ancient camps, one of them called Cæsar’s, and covering about 30 acres, are in the vicinity of the village; and many Roman coins, urns, and other relics have been found. S. Warren is a meet for the Cambridgeshire hounds. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Ely. Value, £769. Patrons, the Executors of the late F. Pym, Esq. The church is cruciform, with W tower; and was restored in 1860, at a cost of £3,300. There are Independent and Wesleyan chapels at Beeston-Green, and charities £90.
Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].
Leonard’s Gazetteer of England and Wales 1850
Sandy with Girtford, 2½ m. N. W. Biggleswade. P. 1906
Source: Leonard’s Gazetteer of England and Wales; Second Edition; C. W. Leonard, London; 1850
A Topographical Dictionary of England 1848
SANDY (St. Swithin), a parish, in the union of Biggleswade, partly in the hundred of Wixamtree, but chiefly in that of Biggleswade, county of Bedford, 3¾ miles (N. by W.) from Biggleswade; containing, with the hamlet of Girtford and part of Beeston, 1906 inhabitants, of whom 921 are in the township of Sandy. The parish is situated on the river Ivel, and comprises 4026 acres, of which 1838 are arable. The soil is good, and from its sandy nature, cucumbers are cultivated in the open air in such abundance that Covent-Garden market, London, is chiefly supplied with that vegetable from this place; carrots and other vegetables are also grown. The wood is chiefly elm and fir. The substratum contains a curious coarse sandstone, resembling in some degree a conglomerate, and containing a considerable portion of iron and fossil-wood, with small pebbles, in which yellow quartz predominates. The living is a rectory, valued in the king’s books at £32. 2. 11.; net income, £769; patron, F. Pym, Esq. The tithes were commuted for land and money payments, under acts of inclosure, in 1789 and 1798; the glebe altogether comprises 323 acres. The church is an ancient structure in the early English style. Galley Hill, here, is the site of the Roman station Salinæ, which commanded another station at Chesterfield, a piece of ground still so called near the village, through which passed the great road from Baldock, in Herts, across this county into Cambridgeshire. The ramparts, which inclose an area of 30 acres, are surrounded by a deep fosse, and in the centre is a mount, probably thrown up for the preetorium. At some distance, on the other side of the valley, are the remains of what is called Cæsar’s camp. Several Roman urns, some coins, and fragments of beautiful red pottery, have been discovered at Chesterfield; the pottery, which was ornamented with figures, has been deemed to be the ancient Samian ware.
Source: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis 1848
Beeston
Leonard’s Gazetteer of England and Wales 1850
Beeston, 3 m. N.W. Biggleswade. P. 406
Source: Leonard’s Gazetteer of England and Wales; Second Edition; C. W. Leonard, London; 1850
The Parliamentary Gazetteer of England and Wales 1840
Beeston, a hamlet, partly in the parish of Northill, partly in that of Sandy, hund. of Wixamtree, county of Bedford; 2½ miles north-north-west of Biggleswade, on the post-road to Huntingdon. Pop., in 1801, 180; in 1831, 258. Houses 50. Acres 210. Other returns with the parish.
Source: The Parliamentary Gazetteer of England and Wales; A Fullarton & Co. Glasgow; 1840.
A Topographical Dictionary of Great Britain and Ireland 1833
Beeston, co. Bedford.
P.T. Biggleswade (45) 3m NNW. Pop. (with six adjoining hamlets) 455.
A township, partly in the parish of Northhill, and partly in that of Sandy, in the hundred of Wixamtree.
Source: A Topographical Dictionary of Great Britain and Ireland by John Gorton. The Irish and Welsh articles by G. N. Wright; Vol. II; London; Chapman and Hall, 186, Strand; 1833
Parish Registers
Parish Records
Bedfordshire Archives & Family History Groups
Bedfordshire Family History Society
Bedfordshire Historical Record Society
Bedfordshire
England, Bedfordshire Parish Registers, 1538-1983
Bedfordshire County Cemetery Records
Bedfordshire Quarter Session Rolls 1714-1832
Bedfordshire 1926 Valuation Maps
Bedfordshire Police Roll of Honour
Maps
Vision of Britain historical maps
Administration
- County: Bedfordshire
- Civil Registration District: Biggleswade
- Probate Court: Court of the Archdeaconry of Bedford
- Diocese: Pre-1837 – Lincoln, Post-1836 – Ely
- Rural Deanery: Shefford
- Poor Law Union: Biggleswade
- Hundred: Biggleswade; Wixamtree
- Province: Canterbury
